


Em-bare-assing

by alienvomplanetenwooh



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Non-Magical, Banter, Flirting, Getting to Know Each Other, M/M, Merthur - Freeform, Mordred is a little shit, Strangers to Lovers, dropping pants in public, godfather Merlin, uncle Arthur
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-04
Updated: 2018-08-04
Packaged: 2019-06-21 16:20:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,589
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15561678
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alienvomplanetenwooh/pseuds/alienvomplanetenwooh
Summary: Letting down your pants in public can lead to unexpected outcomes.





	Em-bare-assing

**Author's Note:**

> We were in a Biergarten for my birthday and that little kid pulled down it's dad's pants while he was unable to defend himself.  
> That just screamed for a merthur one shot.
> 
> I'm always glad about feedback (even critical one)
> 
> Enjoy!

Merlin failed miserably to hide his laugh by taking a big sip from his beer and immediately bursting into a coughing fit.  
“What is it?”, Gwen asked, eyeing him from across the table.  
Merlin, still not able to speak from simultaneously laughing and coughing, gestured towards what would be the dancefloor later in the evening. On it was a gorgeous blond man playing with his two children and Gwen’s and Lancelot’s son Tommy. Only that he wasn’t sitting by the sandbox playing with toys or pushing his kids on the swing. No, he was crawling on all fours, roaring like a lion, the four year old boy screaming and running away while the younger girl tried to climb his back and Tommy did his best to fend the 'lion’ off.  
Gwen smiled and leaned into Lancelot: “He sure seems to be a loving uncle”, she then turned to give Merlin a sly grin, “and he’s hot!”  
“What are you talking about, Gwen?”, Merlin asked irritated, “He’s obviously the dad of those kids.”  
“No way”, Lance chimed in, “any dad would have lost the patience for that ages ago. I speak from experience, mate. He clearly doesn’t have those children all the time.”  
Merlin glanced over to the unfairly hot guy - possibly giving his arse more attention than the rest of his body, but who could blame him? He gave his friends a dirty look: “You’re making this up. You just want to set me up again.”  
Lancelot sucked in a dramatic breath, pressing the hand that wasn't wrapped around Gwen to his chest: “I would never!”  
“No you wouldn’t”, agreed Merlin and rolled his eyes at the theatrical act, “But Gwen would! And she has done so plenty of times, thanks but no thanks!”  
“So you don’t think he’s hot?”, Gwen asked knowingly.  
“God, woman, even a blind man would see that. Of course he’s hot, but he’s also straight and married and has a family, do I need to go on?”, Merlin ranted.  
“Depends”, Gwen noted, “Are you going to say anything remotely true?”  
Merlin raised his eyebrow, took another sip from his beer and looked back to the makeshift playground.   
The man had stopped playing lion and was now used as a living climbing frame. He had the little girl standing on his shoulders, holding her with both hands; Tommy was wrapped around his left leg and the dark haired boy ran around him in circles, he seemed to have a lot of energy constantly running around like that. Suddenly he stopped in his tracks looked up at the man and a shit eating grin spread over his face.  
For the first time Merlin heard the blonde man say anything else than a roar: “Mordred I swear to god if you do anything stupid, you’re going to regret it the next time Morgana leaves you alone with me!”  
For a short time they engaged in a staring contest until suddenly Mordred’s smile got even wider.  
“But you’re going to regret it now!”, he squealed, moved closer, pulled down the guy’s pants and ran away as fast as his little legs would carry him.  
For the second time Merlin burst into a laughing-coughing-fit that drove tears into his eyes.   
“MORDRED!”, the guy roared, sat the girl back down on the floor, struggled to pull his pants back up and darted after the boy, “I swear to god, you little shit when I catch you not even your mother can save you anymore!”  
“God, I didn’t think it possible for his arse to look even better without pants covering it, but it does!”, Merlin said in awe.  
“Definitely an uncle!”, Lancelot nodded solemnly, “A murderous, irascible uncle, but an uncle nonetheless.”  
Gwen nodded in agreement and turned back to Merlin: “So are you gonna talk to him now?”  
Merlin sighed annoyed: “I still don’t know if he’s into men. And even if he was I’m so far below his league, I couldn’t even reach it with a ladder!”  
Gwen reached over the table and snipped Merlin’s ear.  
“Ouch!”, Merlin whined and covered his aching ear.  
She glared at him: “Stop pretending you’re worth less than you actually are, you are funny and smart and adorable and witty and-”  
“Oh great, I am adorable. Thanks, Gwen, just the compliment every guy loves to hear! Also I might be a nice guy and all that, but”, Merlin turned to look back at the man who had moved to sit by the playground’s sandbox building sandcastles with Tommy and the girl, “but I’m not a greek god send to earth to-”, he gestured wildly looking for words, “to turn any straight guy gay and any lesbian straight!”  
“Merlin you’re exaggerating again!”, Gwen said amused.  
“Nah he’s not”, said the waitress that just arrived with their meals, “I normally don’t even spare guys a second glance but that’s one fine arse he’s got there. So who ordered the Spaghetti Carbonara?”  
“Told you”, Merlin grinned and took the plate from the waitress’ hands.  
“Merlin, would you mind getting Tommy for dinner?”, Gwen asked.  
“Yeah sure, not a-”, Merlin, who had already been walking towards the playground, turned back around and glared at her suspiciously, “You planned that, didn’t you?”  
“And don’t you dare come back here without talking to him”, she smiled and Merlin was sure that what appeared to be an innocent, sweet smile on the outside was actually vicious and calculating.

“Tommy? Time for dinner!”, he called as he neared the playground.  
Not only Tommy, but also that blond guy looked up upon hearing him call.  
“Is Tommy your son? He is a lovely child”, the stranger said and the smile that grew on his face made the setting sun pale in comparison.  
“What? Oh no, Tommy is my godson”, Merlin explained and then nodded to the girl, “She yours?”  
“No, Kara and Mordred are my sisters kids. Devious little monsters. Just like their mother. I lost a bet with her so I have to spend the evening entertaining them”, he answered and ruffled through Kara’s hair.  
Merlin was a bit surprised by the amount of intel that stranger gave him, but was saved by Tommy before an awkward silence could develop.  
“Merlin, Merlin, did you see me play with Mordred, Kara and Arthur?”, he wanted to know, pulling his sleeve.  
“I, uhm, I did”, Merlin admitted, feeling a blush creeping up his neck when his gaze flickered to Arthur for a second before he quickly averted his eyes again.  
“I’ll go ask mom if I can come back to play with them later, or maybe I can visit them sometimes!”, Tommy exclaimed happily and before Merlin could even reply he’d run off.  
“So, tell me, Merlin. Do you have a cold?”, Arthur asked challenging, “I noticed you coughing quite a lot.”  
“Tell me, Arthur”, Merlin shot back, “are you an exhibitionist? I noticed you dropping your pants in public.”  
“Only if the hot guys are watching”, Arthur replied and winked, “and they don’t usually choke, not from me simply dropping my pants that is.”  
Merlin was spared the answer once again by Tommy running into him.  
“Mom said you should stop hitting on Arthur, though I don’t know why she thinks that you’d be punching him” - Arthur raised an eyebrow at him and Merlin instantly wished for the floor to open up and swallow him - “and she also gave her okay for a playdate with Mordred and Kara, if you’ll take me?”  
Tommy gave Merlin his best puppy dog eyes that he perfectly well knew Merlin didn’t have the inner strength to refuse.  
“Sure, Tommy.”, he turned towards Arthur, “Maybe you can ask your sister if that’s possible?”  
“Well, Kara and Mordred are with me next week, because Morgana and Leon are going on holiday, but you’re lucky, I love playdates.”, even though Arthur has been talking to Tommy, at the end he turned to look at Merlin.  
She couldn’t have planned that. Gwen could NOT have planned that! How would she have known? This had to be a coincidence.  
God, there was no way Merlin would survive this.  
“Uhm, okay then, I’ll- We’ll just talk later then? Our food is getting cold.”, before Arthur could reply, and probably embarrass Merlin further, he snatched His godson’s arm and dragged him back to their table.  
His spaghetti was hardly lukewarm by now.

Later, they had finished their meal, Tommy had run off to play again, a band had started playing and some people were dancing, Merlin allowed his gaze to return to the table he knew Arthur to sit at. But he couldn’t find him. Did he leave already? Although his friends or family were still there. A wave of disappointment washed over him, after he had processed their flirty banter, he had really hoped to get this guys number. Not only for him but also so Tommy could meet with his new friends.  
“Would you like to dance?”, the voice startled Merlin out of his thoughts and he looked up to encounter Arthur’s blue eyes watching him intensely.  
“I don’t know”, Merlin pretended to hesitate, even though there was nothing he’d rather do at the moment, “I wouldn’t want to risk passing on my cough to you.”  
“I’m willing to take the risk”, Arthur smiled and held out his hand.  
Merlin flashed him a crooked smile, placed his hand in Arthur’s and let himself be guided to the dancefloor.  
Maybe Gwen’s tendencies to set him up with strangers wasn’t always terrible.


End file.
